Application for PES2020 support for Age Labs for SME phase1 application writing

Aging is by far the most important risk factor for diseases causing disability and death. Healthy aging is an important goal in modern societies. Although chronological age (how long you have lived) is strongly associated with disability and death, there is considerable between-person variation. For example, one 70 year old could be running marathons while another is bedridden in need of care. This variation reveals the need for a biomarker of aging, and at the moment there exists no gold standard. However, recent methodological breakthroughs have now laid the groundwork for developing a biomarker for biological age (your mortality risk and your risk of chronic disease). Age Labs is developing a biomarker of biological age together with The Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Norwegian Cancer Registry. NIPH and NCR are the custodians of unique world class biobanks and health registries. We believe our expertise in software development, predictive analytics, aging, epigenetics and medicine combined with this access to data will produce a biomarker with unrivaled qualities for predictions of biological age. A robust biomarker for aging has several applications. Firstly, it is important in understanding the biology of aging. In clinical medicine the chronological age of the patient is used as a proxy for their biological age and is important in almost every decision a clinician makes. Secondly, since the development of anti-aging drugs and nutraceuticals are now a reality, the field needs good biomarkers to determine which are legitimate and which are not. Thirdly, for people on an individual level it is hard to find out which diet, lifestyle or exercise choices actually result in healthy aging. A precise biomarker that tracks changes over time will help them find what is right for them.